The Journey Begins
On 18 May 2023 (the 26th anniversary of the day we met), Antigone and I set off to drive to Broome, 5000 km from Melbourne. We left our home in the care of our nephew Jarred and our gorgeous cat Peppa who has been part of our lives since 2010. We had one booking, in Broome from 2 June-18 July, and about 15 days to get there. We could do it if we averaged 350 km per day – do-able, but faster than really desirable.
Our first night was at the northern edge of the Grampians near ‘The Big Koala’. We had two short bike rides in the evening and morning to ‘The Big Koala’ and along a trail surrounded by dozens of kangaroos. Day 2, while filling with fuel at Tailem Bend, Antigone started talking about missing Peppa and wanting to return home to her. I assumed (hoped) she would get over it. I suggested we continue to Adelaide for the night and said we could discuss all that in the evening.
We had a lovely campsite beside the river a couple of km from Adelaide CBD. We went to a Rundle Street café and had a long talk, including listing pluses and minuses of going to Broome versus returning home. There were lots of pluses about going to Broome – it is a place we have visited a dozen or so times since 2000 and have developed a real love of. Going home, the plus list was much shorter, but the pull of Peppa was very strong. We spent the morning in another café having another long talk.
At some stage, the idea of going to Broome with Peppa occurred to us. It would be a challenge, as Peppa had always hated being in a car. Nevertheless, 750km into our journey, we turned back for Peppa, with the challenge before us of training her to be a travelling cat.
On day 4 we arrived at home and parked our caravan in our driveway. Peppa was very happy to see us and pleased to join us in the caravan for dinner and overnight. For a cat litter she seemed to manage with a large rectangular bucket which just fit in front of our caravan pantry door. It would need to be moved for using the pantry but there was no space for anything else.
Peppa is used to being on a lead. For years, she has only ever been outdoors on a lead, with a clip which can slide along her choice of several wires which radiate out from our back door. In the caravan, her normal lead clips to an eye in the ceiling and she can access the whole caravan, from the bed at the front to the litter box beside the door at the back. Setting up similar cat runs wherever we go should not be hard using a rope between trees.
After two nights in our garden in the caravan it was time to try driving. At home, Peppa spends a large proportion of her time curled up on our bed, so we figured travelling in the caravan would allow her to continue as usual. Our first drive was short – a 3 km drive from our home in Coburg to Coburg Lake for a picnic. Peppa travelled in the caravan for the 5-minute drive and both wee-ed and poo-ed along the way, not in the litter box. Peppa travelling alone in the caravan was not going to work.
Given the peeing and pooing on our first short trip, Peppa would need to be contained. I ran home, got my bike, and went shopping for a suitable cat-carrier. We had a cat box, but that had always been traumatic for Peppa. And she likes bags. So, I bought a cat carrier bag for her. Back at Coburg Lake, we drove next with Peppa in the new bag on Antigone’s lap. We had planned a longer drive – to Beaumaris where we stayed in my brother’s driveway. More cat smells – probably sprays, although we didn’t at that time know about cats spraying due to stress. More cleaning to do at Steve’s, though at least it was contained in the bag.
Our fourth night in Melbourne was spent at Phil and Julie’s place in Preston. Peppa had no interest in going into their house, but was happy enough in the caravan. It seemed like a positive breakthrough in the middle of the night when I got up for a wee and Peppa wanted to go out for a walk and explore Phil and Julie’s driveway plantings. This led to the realization that low shrubby areas are a good choice for her.
A fabric bag took too much effort to thoroughly clean so often. Our nephew Jarred who lives with us came across advice about concealing cats where they cannot see to avoid stressing them with unfamiliar sights. So I removed the top cage bit from our cat box, leaving the hard plastic base, and found a sports bag it could fit into. This was Peppa’s travelling place for the first portion of our trip. The hard plastic base was easily cleaned and kept smells from the less cleanable fabric.
We also bought some special cat urine cleaner.
Our fifth (and last) night in Melbourne we spent in our bed. This may have been a mistake in terms of acclimatizing Peppa to caravan living.
When we left Melbourne, Peppa’s bag needed cleaning at lunch, and at the end of Day 1.
When choosing camping locations, we carefully looked for low shrubby locations for Peppa to explore and feel safe, which seemed to work well. Peppa had a few more 3am walks too.
Fortunately, the frequent cat sprays and cleaning requirements did not continue on Day 2 and subsequently. Peppa was now a travelling cat!
